Today, several high-ranking members of Bush administration before U.S. Senate’s Committee on Banking about the “turmoil in US credit markets”. Main issue was the $700 bi bailout package, a.k.a. Mother of All Bailouts.
This massive, unconstitutional bailout creates a bigger problem for generations ahead. And I’m not talking about the huge increase in the national debt.The real problem Mother of All Bailouts is the responsibility crisis we are facing, and it will repeat itself in the future. Today’s financial turmoil is caused by total lack of responsibleness from financial market’s most important players: lenders, borrowers and the government.
First, we have borrowers buying houses they can’t afford, and imaging a future that may not become reality. Still, they buy it, as they know some leftist politician will “stand up” for them and demand government to clean up their financial messes using money from sensible persons who live on the budget.
Second, we have lenders literally tossing money around, regardless of borrowers’ ability to pay off their debts. They don’t care at all, should borrowers default on their loans, Nanny Government will come to rescue, using money from sensible persons who live on the budget.
Last, but not least, we have the government. With oceans of regulations intended to “protect” consumers, wiping out every little sense of moral hazard, and creating enormous rescue programs without any constitutional authority, the government simply uses money from sensible persons who live on the budget to reward irresponsible behavior from both lenders and borrowers.
And what’s the message from this Mother of All Bailouts? Act irrationally, as we will save you from yourselves yet again. That’s the issue we should debating, as giving money to irresponsible persons will only give them more incentive to become more and more irresponsible, government-dependent.
If we want to stop this vicious circle of irresponsibleness, we must tell those people to deal with their bad judgments and learn from their mistakes. And, of course, they must pay the price of their actions using their own money.
